MEETING HOUSES

Wairarapa Times-Age, 7 December 1938, Page 6

MEETING HOUSES

PROPOSALS FOR RENOVATION. OFFICIALS VISIT WAIRARAPA. A proposal for the renovation and repair of the Maori meeting houses at Papawai and Te Ore Ore is being investigated by the authorities in Wellington. This action follows on representations made to a conference of Wairarapa local bodies held in Masterton recently by Messrs G. Te Whaiti and P. Paku, and later by the Mayor, Mr T. Jordan, who placed the matter before a meeting of the Wellington Provincial Centennial Council, at which an undertaking was given by Mr A. W. Mulligan, Departmental representative on the council, to look into the proposal, and see if any means existed for having the work carried out, as it was considered it could hardly be regarded as a centennial memorial project. The latest development is a visit to the meeting houses at Papawai and Te Ore Ore by Mr W. J. Phillipps, of the Dominion Museum staff, accompanied by Mr McEwen, a member of the Board of Native Affairs, for the purpose of investigating the position. At Te Ore Ore they were met by Mr Paku and other representatives of the Maori race. Mr Phillipps is reporting on the matter to the authorities«in Wellington, and it is understood that the proposal will also be brought under the notice of members of the Ngatiponeka tribe. There appears to be some possibility of means being' provided by which the meeting houses will be restored.